Cleo Pay

Overview

Cleo Pay is accounts-payable software for small and mid-sized businesses, especially hospitality and service operators managing vendor invoices and ACH payments. Its appeal is a connected workflow for invoice intake, approvals, vendor onboarding, and QuickBooks Online; its main constraint is that outbound payments are reserved for paid plans with monthly allowances.

Vendors can onboard and receive payments through a web link without installing an app or paying account fees. Cleo Pay also provides a REST API for payables, contacts, bank accounts, and payments. Founded in 2025, the company is headquartered in New York.

Key features

Invoice intake and accounting

Invoices can arrive by email forwarding or photo upload. AI extracts vendor, amount, and line-item details and maps expenses to QuickBooks accounts, reducing the handoff between receiving an invoice and coding it. The two-way QuickBooks Online connection syncs vendor records, invoices, bills, payments, and chart-of-accounts data, making the product most compelling for businesses already using that accounting system.

Vendor onboarding and approvals

Businesses invite vendors by link; vendors submit W-9 information and connect a bank account through Plaid to receive ACH payments. Cleo Pay says onboarding includes TIN verification. Approval chains can be configured by amount, GL code, or vendor, and approvers can act by email or mobile. That flexibility helps businesses route invoices according to their own controls rather than relying on a single approval path.

Payments and safeguards

Businesses can pay vendors by ACH, schedule payments for later, and track transfers through scheduled, processing, paid, or error statuses. Audit trails give teams a record of payment activity. Cleo Pay says Plaid connections use OAuth, bank credentials do not reach its servers, and sensitive data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Support is by email, with a personalized 15-minute onboarding call for setup and payment issues.

Pricing

The free Get Paid plan is for vendors and contractors receiving money: it includes one user seat and unlimited incoming payments, but no outbound payments. Businesses that need to pay vendors must move to a paid plan.

• Basic — $99 a month: One user seat and 15 payments per month, then $3 per additional payment. It fits an independent operator with modest payment volume, but the single seat and overage rate can become limiting as invoice volume or team participation grows.
• Venues & Promoters Plus — $199 a month: Three user seats and 50 payments per month, then $2.50 per additional payment. This is the clearest fit for venues and promotion companies that need several approvers and a larger monthly allowance.
• Pro — $299 a month: Ten user seats, 100 payments per month, $2 per additional payment, and dedicated support. It suits larger teams with higher volume; the lower overage charge and added seats are useful only if the business can make use of that capacity.

Each paid tier has a monthly payment allowance, so high-volume teams should account for additional-payment charges rather than treating the subscription price as a flat payment cost. The Get Paid plan is free but is not a substitute for an outbound-payments plan.

Platforms

Cleo Pay is available on Android, iOS, and the web, and offers an API. Mobile access matters for approvers who need to act away from a desktop, while vendors can complete onboarding through a web link without downloading an app. Payout coverage is single-country.

Who it's for

Cleo Pay is best suited to hospitality and service businesses—such as restaurants, hotels, and event production companies—that want invoice handling, approvals, vendor onboarding, and ACH payments tied to QuickBooks Online. It is less suitable for vendors seeking a free way to receive payments if they also need to initiate outbound payments, or for teams whose payment needs exceed the plan allowances without budgeting for overages.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Invoice extraction, approval routing, ACH payment scheduling, and two-way QuickBooks Online sync connect several accounts-payable steps in one workflow.
• Pro: Vendors can onboard and receive payment by web link without an app download or account fee, lowering friction on the receiving side.
• Pro: Approval rules can use amount, GL code, or vendor, giving businesses options to match invoice routing to internal controls.
• Con: The free plan supports incoming payments only; businesses paying vendors need a paid subscription starting at $99 a month.
• Con: Paid plans cap included monthly payments at 15, 50, or 100, with per-payment charges above the allowance.
• Con: The QuickBooks Online connection is a strong fit for its users but makes Cleo Pay less compelling for businesses using another accounting platform.

Alternatives

For contractor-focused options, compare Contractor Payment Software. Choose PayWow if an unlimited-contractor free plan with check payments and limited reports is a closer fit; its Pro plan is $9 a month. Zoho Payroll is worth considering for payroll: it has a free tier for up to 10 employees with basic payroll and email support, plus a free trial.

Lano Contractor Management is a better direction for contractor management across countries, with compliant contracts for 170+ countries and pricing of €€19 per contractor per month. Plane Contractor Management offers a free HRIS platform with contractor and employee directories, guided hiring and onboarding, custom reports, holidays, and time tracking. Petl Pay and BuildFair are also freemium web options.

QuickBooks Contractor Payments may suit teams that want contractor payments within QuickBooks and need a plan including 20 contractors; it costs $12.50 a month, with an additional $2 per contractor. Consider YunoJuno Contractor Payments for a freelancer management system aimed at teams managing their own contractor network or enterprises; both plans use custom pricing.

Verdict

Cleo Pay is a strong fit for hospitality and service businesses that use QuickBooks Online and want vendor invoices, approvals, onboarding, and scheduled ACH payments in one accounts-payable workflow. Its most persuasive advantage is the connection between invoice handling and accounting sync; its main drawback is the paid-plan payment caps and resulting overage charges. Vendors who only need to receive payments can use the free tier, but businesses paying vendors should compare expected monthly volume against the $99.00 USD entry plan before committing.